


Clone Wars: DRAGON RIDERS

by OminousPredictions



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover, Dragon Riders, Gen, Jedi, The Dragon Riders are Jedi and their dragons are their astromechs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:14:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24011143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OminousPredictions/pseuds/OminousPredictions
Summary: A crossover between How To Train Your Dragon and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, in honour of May the 4th and the ultimate conclusion of the Clone Wars. Also on FanFiction.net under SlumberingVoid.First chapter is a rundown of the Dragon Riders' personalities, equipment and abilities as Jedi. Their dragons have been characterised as astromech droids and their codenames based off the names of the dragon species they ride. If anyone wants to do fanart, feel free.
Kudos: 5





	1. Description of Characters

============DESCRIPTION AND BREAKDOWN OF CHARACTERS============

Hiccup Haddock was one of the Jedi Order’s most promising young members, renowned as much for his piloting skills as he was for his penchant for mechanical tinkering; he and Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One, got along very well because of this shared interest. He was a bit of a loner, content to bury himself in his work and his studies, but with the outbreak of the Clone Wars he had stepped up to do his part, leading a small squad of fellow Jedi Padawans whom he’d befriended ever since they were all brought to the Temple from their homeworld of Berk: Astrid Hofferson, Fishlegs Ingerman, Snotlout Jorgenson, Heather and the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston. All of them, save for Heather, had come from the same tribe on their world, the Hooligans, who served as the planet’s leadership. Hiccup himself was the son of Chief Stoick, the planet’s regent, and all belonged to a storied family. Heather was of the Berserker Tribe, who served Berk and it’s system by defending it and it’s supply convoys from pirate attacks. All of this they learned from the Archives, of course; personal attachments to homeworlds and families were forbidden by the Jedi Code. Joining the war effort as Jedi Commanders, they had cobbled together into a fairly uniform fighting force, both on the ground and in their starfighters, all of which had been specially modified by Hiccup and Fishlegs with traits and abilities akin to the dragons of their homeworld.

(HICCUP HADDOCK)

Hiccup is a skilled fighter but prefers to solve problems without resorting to lethal force, particularly involving organic opponents. He is also the most likely to rely on his Force powers rather than his lightsaber, though is by no means unskilled with it, and is particularly adept at mind tricks, using the Force to manipulate the minds of his foes to his advantage. He wears a green-coloured Jedi tunic cut with brown leather in his downtime, but more often wears a black flightsuit with armour pieces for when in combat. His lightsaber is sleek but also hodgepodge as he is constantly adding to or adjusting the design and produces a rare purple blade when ignited, like the colour of a Night Fury’s plasma blast. In-keeping with his philosophy, Hiccup prefers to use the classic Form III, which incorporates almost wholly defensive moves with little offensive capabilities, but is also well-versed in Form II and is an adept lightsaber duellist.

Hiccup’s fighter, Night Fury, is painted and plated in black and equipped with state-of-the-art stealth and cloaking technology, allowing it to scramble enemy scanners and tracking computers so they couldn’t lock onto it reliably. In addition, it’s modified engines allowed the fighter to accelerate to unbelievable speeds and perform dizzying maneuvers few other ships and even fewer pilots could pull off. Armed with heavy laser and plasma cannons, it could swoop in and deliver precision strikes before speeding out before the targets knew what had hit them, their only warning being the screeching of it's dive-bombing engines. His astromech, Toothless, was black all over with green sensors and equipped with boosters and a plasma-powered electro-shock prod for defence.

(ASTRID HOFFERSON)

Astrid Hofferson is a warrior through and through and easily one of the Order’s best fighters despite her youth. Her skills have earned praise from Masters Cin Drallig, Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi, each of whom are renowned among the Jedi as fighters. Bold, aggressive, determined and strong, Astrid desires nothing more than to be a Jedi Knight and bring honour and renown to her family name, as she is the first of the Hofferson line to become a Jedi. Of all the Riders, Astrid is easily the best fighter and can easily take the day when leading troops on the ground, though she is also a skilled pilot. In-keeping with her aggressive stance, Astrid carries a blue double-bladed lightsaber that complements her perfectly; whilst harder to master, her use of it can make her enemies stampede over each other running for cover. Dedicated to her goals of becoming a full-fledged Jedi Knight, Astrid has trained extensively in all forms of lightsaber combat and uses traits from them all in battle; Form IV’s acrobatics, Form V’s strength and Form VI to combine her double-saber with her Force abilities. Astrid was also one of the select few permitted to learn the ways of the forbidden Form VII, a form whose users flirted with the dark side in the process of using it. 

Her fighter, Deadly Nadder, was equipped with strong shields and precision lasers and missiles, allowing her to excel in dogfights, and could also launch additional projectiles from hidden ports in the event of being surrounded by enemies. Her droid, Stormfly, was blue with some yellow markings and yellow sensors. She had been given a magnesium-based cutting torch that could slice or melt anything and acted as an effective weapon.

(FISHLEGS INGERMAN)

Fishlegs Ingerman is easily the largest of their group in body mass and heart. A gentle and caring young man, he was the only one of them who had been reluctant to join the war effort and still harboured doubts even now. He preferred to lose himself in books and meditation, preferably somewhere in nature, but was nonetheless a skilled fighter and pilot. A firm believer in the Jedi’s roles as peacekeepers and mediators, Fishlegs trained as a Consular Jedi and learned the arts of healing, science and diplomacy. He carries a green-bladed lightsaber whose hilt is somewhat larger and thicker than usual, to accommodate his large hands, and uses Forms I and III on the rare occasions that he is forced to ignite his lightsaber.

His brown and yellow fighter, Gronkle, was heavy and slow but made up for it with it’s strong armour, shields and concussion missiles, allowing it to punch through shields. His droid, Meatlug, had been given a powerful electromagnet that allowed her to draw in any metallic object within range and then fire them outwards from herself with great force. He often remains on the command ship to coordinate the attacks and strategise, but would hop into battle should heavy firepower be required.

(SNOTLOUT JORGENSON)

Snotlout Jorgenson is a short, squat, brash and hot-tempered person who is easily the most prone to risks and breaking formation to do something flashy and heroic which inevitably backfired on him in some way. That said, he was a good pilot and a warrior even with this tendency, so Hiccup (and the others, mostly) tolerated him. Known for his ego, Snotlout uses Forms IV and V in combat as they tend to be the showiest forms and wields a rare orange-bladed lightsaber, which is something he boasts about at every opportunity. This he wields in the unorthodox reverse-grip of the Shien style, yet another attempt to gain attention. However, he can always be counted on to do the right thing and nurses a soft spot for those in danger who cannot help themselves.

His fighter, Monstrous Nightmare, was painted a bright scarlet, which often made it the first to be targeted, and had special heat-proof hull plating as well as a thermal charge dispenser in the pointed nose. These would be launched and detonated in front of the ship, allowing it to fly through the fireball unharmed whilst any pursuers were incinerated. His droid, Hookfang, was red like the ship and just as scorched and battered. This was mainly due to his ability to set himself on fire without being harmed, followed by Snotlout hurling him into the midst of whatever enemy they were fighting at the time. He followed his master loyally, but wasn’t above grumbling and exacting payback for this rough treatment on occasion.

(RUFFNUT AND TUFFNUT THORSTON)

The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, were difficult to sum up. Most in the Temple had given up trying and more than a few had recommended they be tested for….. something. Both of them were generally agreed to be borderline insane, never hesitating to either ramble about things that made absolutely no sense or leap head-on into dangerous and potentially fatal encounters. Heck, the more dangerous the better, according to them. They were always in and out of the medbay and their fighters had been repaired, repainted and outright rebuilt more times than the others combined. The two wielded identical yellow-bladed lightsabers another rare colour, and preferred to use Forms IV and V in combat, with their own special flair added in. Their battle insanity, as the clone troopers called it, made for interesting and entertaining results against the battle droids.

The Zipplebacks, named for a bizarre two-headed dragon, were painted in green (light green for Ruffnut, dark green for Tuffnut) and equipped with special weapons. Ruffnut’s could project a noxious and combustible gas from an emitter on the underside; she would fly under the shield envelope of cruisers, the undercarriage of her fighter practically scraping the hull, and deploy the gas before flying out. Her brother would then swoop in and ignite the gas with a special spark projector, sowing chaos and destruction as the flames could melt through durasteel and dissipate shields. The twin’s astromechs, Barf and Belch, shared these abilities and were as enthusiastic about their job as their masters.

(HEATHER)

Heather was mostly a loner, though she was good friends with Astrid, and kept herself to herself. Like her friend she too utilised a double-bladed lightsaber, but hers had uncommon white blades which symbolised what some deemed a flexible loyalty. A girl who preferred an unorthodox and unpredictable style, Heather often went off on unsanctioned scouting missions, coming back with vital intel that meant her commanders were usually willing to overlook her breach of protocol.

Her fighter, Razorwhip, was plated in shimmering chromium which, coupled with it’s experimental shields, could reflect all but the heaviest laser fire. However, it’s special feature was that it’s nose could split apart and a long pair of wings could sprout from the sides. The edges of these were razor-sharp and she could literally cut her foes to pieces as she flew. Her droid, Windshear, was chrome as well, and could unleash throwing discs from her body that were also razor-sharp, making her useful in a fight.


	2. Chapter I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dragon Riders assist Republic forces in driving the Separatists from Nakadia, a strategically valuable agricultural world in the galaxy's Mid Rim.

NAKADIA, MID RIM

Nakadia was a bountiful agricultural world in the galaxy’s Mid Rim, acre upon acre of rich land. It’s unique soil composition made it the perfect place for growing all manner of vital crops. Though it was politically neutral and designated a protected world by the Galactic Republic owing to it’s importance to galactic food production, that hadn’t stopped the Separatists from invading it and subjecting the natives to a brutal droid occupation. It was also the reason a particularly large Republic fleet was presently in orbit, battling with the Separatist armada in an attempt to liberate the crucially agrarian world. Venator-class Star Destroyers and Arquitens-class light cruisers clashed with Munificent-class frigates, blue and red lasers flying back and forth in the void, whilst nimble and fast Consular-class cruisers darted around the bigger ships, slipping through gaps in the Confederate fleet’s formation and harrying them with laser fire. Acclamator-class assault ships, landing craft, had managed to break through and deploy on the surface, leaving the remaining fleet to drive off the droid armada and prevent it from deploying any ground reinforcements of their own. Clone V-19 Torrent starfighters engaged vulture droids in harrowing dogfights and sorties, swarming like gnats amongst the bigger capital ships, whilst slower but sturdier Y-wings executed bombing runs against the Separatist cruisers, weakening their shields enough for the Republic cruisers to finish the job. Another frigate crumpled under concentrated fire, then exploded into a fireball. Through the wreckage zoomed a pair of starfighters, their frames sleek and pointed like arrowheads with a narrow attack profile. One was painted black, with lines of purple here and there, whilst the other was light blue with orange decals. They swooped through the battle, movements perfectly syncronised, and a trio of vulture droids vanished in a ball of flame and debris as green laser fire spat from the nose of the black one.

“Nice shot, Hiccup, but I can do better.”, said a commanding female voice.

The blue fighter spun around rapidly and five vulture droids were destroyed, before pulling back to align it's flightpath once more with the black one. A girl of eighteen with untidy blonde hair, held in place somewhat by a leather and metal kransen, grinned through the transparisteel cockpit of her blue and orange fighter at the pilot of the black one, a freckled boy about the same age with a tangle of messy brown hair. He grinned back.

“Show-off!”, he said over the comm channel shared by their two fighters.

“Jealous.”, the girl fired back.

She banked her fighter left and the boy’s followed. They were heading for another frigate, one which had moved to threaten one of their cruisers and which was already being assailed by Republic fighters. 

“Night Fury to Riders, all wings report.”, said the boy.

“Deadly Nadder, reporting in.”, the blonde girl said.

“Gronkle, reporting in.”

“Monstrous Nightmare, reporting in.”

“Zipplebacks, reporting in. Or whatever.”

“Where’s Heather? Is she all right?”, Hiccup asked.

“She’s fine. I just contacted her; she and the clones are pressed, but pushing back.”, Fishlegs reported.

“Good. That means we can concentrate up here. We need to keep hitting the droid fleet hard so they can’t support their ground forces.”, Hiccup said.

“Hiccup, look! Two landing craft have just launched from the command ship!”, Astrid exclaimed.

Hiccup looked and swore, hoping the twins hadn’t heard that; sure enough, a pair of CC-9979 landing craft were descending through the chaos of the battle towards the planet below. Used by the Trade Federation, the elegant double-winged craft could carry an entire battalion apiece, plus tanks and support vehicles. If one or both managed to land and deploy their cargo, the Republic ground forces wouldn’t stand a chance. 

“Fishlegs, give me a sit-rep now!”, Hiccup said.

“Their fleet is between us and the landing craft. Our cruisers can’t get a shot!”, Fishlegs said.

“What about the escort frigates?”, Astrid asked.

“Tied down. It’s up to you guys.”, Fishlegs said.

“All right then. You heard what he said. Riders, form up! We’re going in!”, Hiccup said.

“Don’t worry, I got this! Snotlout!”, Snotlout yelled.

Predictably, the bright red fighter broke from the standard formation and zoomed towards the landing craft. 

“Snotlout! Get back here! Stay in formation!”, Hiccup shouted.

“Are you really surprised? Besides, this could work to our advantage.”, Astrid said.

“Yeah, we might finally get to see Snotlout die. I wonder how it’ll happen.”, Tuffnut said.

“My money’s on plunging to a fiery death through the atmosphere.”, Ruffnut joined in.

Hiccup fought the urge to facepalm himself.

“I meant Snotlout has attracted the attention of the fighters escorting the landing craft. While he draws them off, we can take them out before they realise.”, Astrid said.

“Sounds like a plan. OK, Ruff and Tuff, you take out the one on the left. Me and Astrid will handle the other.”, Hiccup ordered.

“You got it! Let’s go!”, Ruffnut said.

The pair of green fighters headed for their assigned landing craft, which fired it's defensive turrets at them. Ruffnut evaded the blasts and flew over it, a cloud of green gas expelling from her ship. The landing craft flew right into the cloud just as Tuffnut ignited it; there was an almighty explosion and the landing craft was blown to pieces. 

“Yeah, baby! That’s what I’m talking about!”, the twins cried with glee.

Hiccup and Astrid had gone for the other one, which Snotlout was also attacking whilst trying to shake off the droid fighters pursuing him. Astrid blew three away at once whilst Hiccup went for the transport. The joints where the wings connected to the main body were the weakest point, so that’s what he targeted. Astird and Snotlout joined in and there was a small bang as one wing broke off. The crippled landing craft lurched and fell, descending in helpless freefall towards the planet below.

“Shouldn’t we try and stop it? What if it crashes on a city?”, Astrid pointed out.

“No. It’ll burn up before it gets through, and it’s over the ocean anyway.”, Hiccup replied.

As if to prove his point, the landing craft suddenly burst into flames and broke apart as it began to hit the lower atmosphere. 

“Good work, you guys. Heather’s forces are just beginning to push the droids onto the back foot. Those transports would have complicated things.”, Fishlegs said.

“Glad to help. Now, back to business. Target the next frigate and bring it down.”, Hiccup said.

Back in formation, the Dragon Riders swooped back into the heat of the battle. The Separatist fleet was slowly crumbling under the repeated attacks from all sides, but they still maintained the advantage of numbers so it was somewhat leveled. Hiccup marked the closest frigate on his computer and Toothless relayed it to the others.

“Ruff and Tuff, you target the ship’s engines and dorsal fins. Try and hit near the gunnery for maximum damage.”, he said.

“Yes!”, was the reply.

“What about us?”, Snotlout asked.

“You and Astrid are with me. We’ll go for the bridge, draw their fire away from the twins.”, Hiccup ordered.

The black, blue and red fighters streaked for the pointed bow of the Banking Clan frigate, whose guns swivelled to target them. All three effortlessly dodged the powerful laser fire and swivelled into attack position.

“Fire!”, Astrid said.

Snotlout launched a thermal charge, which detonated with an explosive boom as it made contact with the bridge deflector shields. The flames were deflected, but the sheer power of the explosion was too much for the shields and they winked out. Astrid took the lead and small precision missiles spat from the nose of her fighter. They punched through the transparisteel viewports and implanted themselves firmly into the floor before transmitting an electromagnetic pulse that fried any and all electrical systems within five metres of them. Spasming droid pilots collapsed over sparking consoles and the bridge descended into brief chaos before Hiccup’s plasma blast put an end to it. With the bridge and command crew destroyed, the rest of the frigate fell into disarray; battle droids were hopeless at independent thinking and improvising without orders or plans, which was something that Jedi excelled in. Surprisingly, there had been no gigantic explosion from the ship’s aft quarters that spoke of the twins’ handiwork.

“Where are those two? I expected them to be done before us.”, Hiccup said.

Astrid spotted a puff of familiar green vapour coming from near the port-side fin.

“Wait for it.”, she said.

KABOOM!

A truly massive explosion made them shield their eyes and when they looked back, they saw that flames were consuming the aft quarter and a great ragged hole had been torn in the side of the frigate. The twin green fighters zoomed away from their handiwork.

“Whooo! That might have just been our biggest boom yet, bro!”, Ruffnut cheered.

“Au contraire, my naive sister. What of the munitions factory on Galidraan?”, Tuffnut countered.

“Ah, of course. Apologies, oh brother of mine.”, Ruffnut said.

Hiccup rolled his eyes but could not suppress a grin; the twins were a brigade’s worth of firepower on their own if properly led, but he just couldn’t wrap his head around what went on inside their heads. Frankly, he wasn’t sure if he even wanted to know. But there was no arguing with the results as he watched the damaged frigate groan in it's death throes, fire and debris spewing from the rear. A further series of explosions rocked it and made it shudder before breaking in half; must have been a chain reaction throughout the magazine.

“That should even the odds. Our fleet has more room to maneuver now.”, Astrid said with satisfaction.

Indeed, with another enemy frigate down the Republic cruisers could now close in on what remained of the Separatist fleet, hemming it in. Onboard the command ship, a Providence-class carrier/destroyer, the Separatist commander TX-139 was reporting in disgrace to the Confederate leader, Count Dooku. A T-series tactical droid, it was designed to excel in strategy and tactics but their reliance on logic and figures meant it was easy for the Republic to outmaneuver them with unorthodox actions, which is what they were doing now. The battle droids under it’s command watched it nervously whilst blue-painted OOM-series pilot droids tended to their consoles.

“I regretfully inform you, my Lord, that the Republic forces have pushed us back and are inflicting heavy losses on both our ground and space forces.”, said TX-139.

“This news is most unwelcome. I had faith your superior numbers would be more than enough to crush any pitiful attempts by the Republic to retake this world.”, Dooku said.

“My Lord, our scans have indicated the presence of at least five Jedi starfighters with non-standard armaments which we have deemed largely responsible.”, replied TX-139.

“Really? Five Jedi?”, Dooku asked, one eyebrow raised.

“And a sixth leading their forces on the ground. The emblem on the lead fighter matches that of the enemy squadron known as the Dragon Riders.”, TX-139 reported.

Dooku’s face went dark, discernible even over the hologram.

“Ah yes. I am familiar with this persistent thorn. I think it is time to remove it, Commander.”, he said.

“I still have reserve forces of tri-fighters and Hyena bombers held back, my Lord. Shall I deploy them?”, asked TX-139.

“At once. Send the bombers to attack the clone ground forces. When the Jedi break off to intercept them, order the tri-fighters to attack.”, Dooku said.

“And if the Jedi do not take the bait?”, inquired TX-139.

“Then order the bombers to raze the surface indiscriminately. If we lose Nakadia, let the Republic claim a barren and dead cinder.”, Dooku said with a nasty smirk.

“As you command, Count Dooku.”, TX-139 said.

The hologram faded away and TX-139 turned to regard his bridge crew.

“Activate Hyena bombers. Order them to target all non-Separatist structures and entities on the planet surface.”, he said.

“Roger, roger.”, several pilot droids squeaked in unison.

In the hangar of the dreadnought, the Hyena bombers received these orders and sprung into flight mode, speeding out of the hangar and flying towards Nakadia. Fishlegs received a warning from a clone officer on the bridge of the Republic flagship, the Dauntless, and hailed Hiccup.

“Hiccup, we have detected Hyena bombers on course for the surface!”, he cried.

“Are they going to bomb our troops?”, Hiccup asked.

“They are headed in that direction, but I think they’re just going to raze everything.”, Fishlegs said.

“Not if we have anything to do about it!”, Snotlout said.

“For once, I agree with Snotlout.”, Astrid supplied.

“Seconded. Riders, with me! Whatever happens, do NOT let a single bomber reach the surface!”, Hiccup ordered.

“Nothing’s gettin’ by us, chief. Count on it!”, the twins said.

As one, the five fighters streaked for the descending squadron of bombers and, once in range, let rip with their laser cannons and tracking torpedoes. There was no flashy flying or fancy moves; they knew how many would die if even a single bomber reached the surface and were not messing around. But in their haste to destroy the bombers, they almost missed the signals of the deployed tri-fighter droids until they were right on top of them.

“Look out! Incoming!”, cried Astrid.

The fighters scattered just as the droid tri-fighters reached their position, laser fire missing by inches.

“Kriffing hell! Where did they come from?!”, Snotlout swore loudly.

“Our treacherous Uncle Fenris! He must have sent them to get his revenge!”, Tuffnut proclaimed.

“Or maybe they were launched from the Separatist flagship while we were distracted.”, Ruffnut replied.  
“What? That’s crazy! You’ve lost your mind, sister!”, Tuffnut shot back.

“Guys! If we could concentrate more on the enemy and less on each other’s sanity!”, Hiccup said.

The sudden attack had caught them off-guard and forced them to break their formation, leaving them all with droids on their tail. Hiccup had three pursuing him.

“All right then, let’s see what these guys have got. What d’you say, Toothless?”, he said.

The droid beeped affirmatively.

“Thought you’d agree. Now then, engage the booster.”, Hiccup said.

One of Hiccup’s modifications to his starfighter included an ingenious mechanism that injected small amounts of coaxium hyperfuel into the propulsion system to give it a boost. Powerful and highly volatile, a single vial of coaxium was sufficient to power an entire fleet of cruisers so only a few drops were dispensed at a time; any more and the fighter would become a flying bomb. He felt his engines thrum with their new power and punched the throttle, accelerating his ship to a speed that left the tri-fighters trailing in his exhaust. Smirking, he banked the fighter upwards sharply and two of the pursuing tri-fighters tried to copy, only to collide and explode. The third one veered away from the explosion on impulse, only to smear itself across the ventral hull of a Republic cruiser. Hiccup laughed as Toothless made his opinion known.

“You said it, bud. They’ll never be as smart as us.”, he said to the astromech.

Meanwhile, Snotlout and the twins had managed to lure their pursuers towards the Republic fleet, whose point-defence gunners obligingly targeted them. Two of Snotlout’s were downed, but that left three.

“So you wanna scrap with the Snot-Man? Come on then”, he said.

Two thermal charges exploded in front of him and he flew through the expanding fireball. A tri-fighter was too slow and was roasted as it passed through the flames, whilst the other two veering off put them in the sights of the Republic gunners, who blew them away in short order.

“Yeah! Snotlout, Snotlout, oi, oi, oi!”, Snotlout chanted.

The twins were also handling themselves well with six droids chasing them. Ruffnut angled her fighter so she was behind her brother’s.

“Let’s light it up, bro!”, she said.

“I’m with you, sis! Let’s blow these guys’ minds!”, Tuffnut exclaimed.

Ruffnut engaged the gas pump and waited until the tri-droids flew into the billowing green trail, then triggered her own emergency spark projector for pursuits just like this. All but two of the droids were caught in the explosion, but the remaining two barely had time to register their lucky escape before Tuffnut whirled round and blasted them with his laser cannons, reducing them to scrap.

“Yeah! There ain’t no droid fighters that can crack these two Nuts!”, he cheered.

Hiccup and Snotlout joined them.

“Good work, guys. I……. wait, where’s Astrid?”, Hiccup asked.

Her voice came over the comm channel.

“I’m here! There’s a bunch of them on my tail and they’ve driven me towards their lines!”, she said.

Hiccup’s heart sank.

“Stay strong, Astrid! We’re coming!”, he said.

The four ships whirled and sped for the Confederate ships, soon spotting Astrid’s blue and orange fighter lancing and weaving with at least six tri-fighters on her tail. She was doing a good job of avoiding their fire, but she had no opportunity to use her rear defences. Hiccup and the others picked up their speed as Astrid swooped over a Banking Clan frigate.

“They’re all over me! I can’t shake them! AGH!”, she cried.

“Astrid?! Astrid, what’s happening?!”, Hiccup shouted, his composure breaking.

“I’m hit! Engines are out, I’ve lost control!”, she said.

“We’re on our way, Astrid! Just hold on!”, Snotlout yelled.

“I’m headed for the Separatist flagship! Gonna see if I can land in their hangar!”, Astrid said.

Hiccup and the others fired on Astrid’s pursuers, destroying or scattering them, but could only watch helplessly as Astrid’s fighter barreled straight for the main hangar and crashed into it. Astrid gritted her teeth as her ship skidded and screeched across the hangar floor before coming to a halt in the middle of it. Shaking her head to clear it, she looked anxiously for her droid.

“Stormfly? Stormfly, talk to me!”, she said.

A reassuring flurry of responding beeps let her know her beloved astromech had survived the crash landing. Astrid put both hands on the transparisteel canopy of her cockpit and pushed; it shattered away, letting her pull herself up and out of the fighter.

“Oh, great Odin’s ghost!”, she exclaimed.

To find herself and her ship surrounded by battle droids, all armed with E-5 blaster rifles and all pointing at her.

“Surrender, Jedi! You’re outnumbered!”, one said in a nasal voice.

“Roger, roger.”, chorused several others, with a round of spastic head bobbing for good measure.

There had to be at least a hundred battle droids in the hangar, and there was only one of her. Astrid’s face broke into an almost ferally gleeful grin and she cracked first her neck and both her knuckles as she recalled a saying she’d once heard.

“A single Jedi equals a hundred battle droids.”

She unhooked her lightsaber from her utility belt, held it up and ignited it. At once, blue plasma blades sprang forth from either end of the staff-like hilt. The multitude of battle droids shuffled nervously.

“Let’s put that to the test, shall we?”, she said, still grinning like a child at Christmas.

And with a loud battle cry, she leapt directly into the midst of the battle droids, spinning her twin-bladed lightsaber like a buzzsaw.

==================================================================

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should state that whilst Jedi aren't supposed to relish combat or enjoy a role as warriors, Astrid simply can't help it. I envision her background as coming from a family who were exiled from Mandalore, hence their love for and skill in battle. Astrid fits the Mandalorian way very well.


	3. Chapter III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiccup and Astrid decide to commandeer the Separatist dreadnought and use it to bolster their own forces.

“We have to get onboard that ship! Riders, follow me!”, Hiccup shouted.

But Fishlegs’ desperate voice sounded over the comm.

“Hiccup! I don’t mean to interrupt, but their ships have closed in on us and we’re taking a beating! Could really use some help!”, he cried.

Hiccup looked and, sure enough, the Republic fleet had run into difficulties. He saw one of the Consular-class cruisers take a bad hit and fall back, whilst a light cruiser was caught between two frigates and exploded under heavy fire. He agonised over the two choices, then came to a decision.

“Snotlout, you and the twins head back and help the fleet.”, he ordered.

“Where are you going?”, Snotlout asked.

“I’m going to board the flagship and rescue Astrid.”, Hiccup replied.

“What? Not on your own! I’m going with you!”, Snotlout protested.

“Snotlout! I gave you a direct order, now get moving! I’ll be fine!”, Hiccup snapped.

He said it in a tone that broached absolutely no argument, and so Snotlout reluctantly acquiesced. Hiccup swirled his fighter round and headed straight for the dreadnought, his boosters meaning he was too fast for their auto-turrets to even begin to trace him before he was through the shield and inside the hangar. Not even waiting for touchdown, he opened the canopy and leapt out.

“Astrid! I’m here, don’t-”, he began.

His jaw dropped. Astrid was there, all right, surrounded by at least a hundred battle droids. However, at least half of them were now lying in various states of dismemberment all over the hangar floor and Astrid was in the process of doing the same to the rest, looking as though she was having the time of her life. She didn’t even register him until he had sprung down to join her, lightsaber in his hand and lit. The violet blade came up to deflect three shots at once, batting them back into the ones who’d fired them. Only then did Astrid seem to notice him.

“Oh hey, Hiccup. When did you get here?”, she asked, calmly slicing two droids at once.

“Uh, a few seconds ago.”, Hiccup replied, deflecting more shots.

“Oh. I didn’t see you arrive.”, Astrid remarked. 

“Well, you were kinda busy.”, Hiccup said.

With two Jedi and less than fifty battle droids left, the battle (to use the term loosely) became a complete massacre. In less than thirty seconds, all remaining battle droids had been reduced to scrap metal. Astrid shut off her double-bladed lightsaber and shook her hair our of her eyes; she wasn’t even out of breath.

“That was just a warm-up.”, she said happily.

Hiccup looked at her dubiously.

“You know, you scare me sometimes.”, he said.

“I know.”, she said nonchalantly.

“Oh. Well, that’s reassuring.”, Hiccup remarked.

Toothless, having taken remote control, landed Hiccup’s fighter next to Astrid’s and hopped out of the droid socket. Stormfly, who had been sheltering behind some crates for the duration of the fight, emerged with a cheerful greeting in Binary for her fellow astromech, which was returned heartily. Hiccup and Astrid watched this with amusement before turning away.

“So, what now? I don’t think my fighter’s going anywhere right now.”, Astrid said.

“I don’t plan on leaving without you.”, Hiccup said.

“Touching, but it does leave us at an impasse.”, Astrid remarked.

“Well, if neither of us are leaving this ship, maybe we can take it instead.”, Hiccup said.

Now it was Astrid’s turn to goggle at him.

“Take the ship? Just the two of us? Are you insane?”, she asked.

“Does anyone ever say yes to that question?”, Hiccup replied.

“Touche. But, seriously, do you think we can just take this whole cruiser by ourselves?”, Astrid asked him.

“Why not? They say a single Jedi can turn the tide of any battle. If we can commandeer this ship…”, Hiccup began.

“We could turn it's weapons against the Separatist frigates and win the battle!”, Astrid finished.

“Exactly. If we can get to the bridge, Toothless can slice into the mainframe and grant us access to the ship’s systems.”, Hiccup said.

“Then we’ll have control. I like it.”, Astrid said.

“Knew you would. Stormfly, mind looking after our ships for us?”, Hiccup asked.

The droid beeped in the affirmative, extending her magnesium cutting torch.

“That’s settled. Trouble is, this ship can carry about fifty thousand active droids and most of them’ll be between us and the bridge.”, Hiccup remarked.

A door at the end of the hangar slid open and a squad of battle droids marched through, accompanied by more advanced super battle droids. All of them cocked their blasters and came running towards them. Astrid smiled.

“And here’s the first twelve.”, she said.

Lightsabers lit, they ran to meet their foes.

==================================================================

On the bridge of the Providence-class dreadnought, which had been part of the Trade Federation fleet under the name Exactor, TX-139 was observing the battle with renewed satisfaction when one of the OOM pilot droids hailed him, sounding agitated.

“Sir, there’s a Jedi in the main hangar!”, it wailed.

“Impossible. The probability of that is 10,003 to 1.”, replied the tactical droid dismissively.

He paid it no further thought, focusing instead on targeting the Jedi command ship, until the same droid hailed him again.

“Sir, there are now two Jedi in the main hangar!”, it said.

“The probability of that is approximately 30,000 to 1. Are you experiencing a defect?”, asked the tactical droid.

“No sir. I-”, stammered the pilot droid.

But before the droid could answer properly, another pilot droid spoke up.

“Uh, sir, we’re receiving a communication from a unit in the hangar bay. Labeled priority.”, it said.

“Put it through then.”, TX-139 ordered wearily.

A hologram of a battle droid flickered into life.

“Sir, there are two Jedi in the main hangar! We need reinforcements!”, it squawked.

“Impossible. I calculate it to be ten times more likely that you are suffering a malfunction.”, TX-139 said.

“But sir, I- AGH!”, cried the droid.

A lightsaber flicked into the hologram, cutting the unfortunate droid in two. TX-139 caught a brief glimpse of a young human female wearing customised armour over what were unmistakably Jedi robes before the hologram winked out. Anger, denial and embarrassment cycled through it’s mind all at once over having been proved wrong about the Jedi.

“Bring up schematics of the ship. Locate the Jedi.”, he snapped.

The droids carried out these orders in due time and soon, TX-139 was looking at a holographic readout of the dreadnought, two red dots showing where the Jedi were located. In the brief time it had taken to bring up the map, they had moved from the main hangar to just before amidships and security footage showed them both cutting down any droids in their way. The human female was the more aggressive whilst her male companion preferred a more defensive approach; curious. However, the droid did not have time to linger over these ruminations.

“Based on their current trajectory, I calculate their target is the main command bridge.”, he said.

“The bridge? But, sir, that’s where we are.”, remarked a battle droid.

TX-139’s database included a list of expressions, expletives and gestures organics were known to use when frustrated or annoyed. Cycling through them, he deemed the one designated as a ‘facepalm’ the most appropriate and executed it.

“I am aware. Scramble all droid patrols and order them to intercept. We cannot let the Jedi reach the bridge.”, he said.

“Roger, roger.”, replied a pilot droid.

In the middle of the ship, Hiccup and Astrid were fighting their way through what felt like the entire complement of droids on board, Toothless following behind. Astrid was using her double-saber like a scythe, cutting a swathe through the opposition whilst Hiccup shielded her from blasterfire with his own weapon. Trouble was, the corridors they were entering were becoming steadily narrower, and Astrid’s weapon of choice was difficult to use in close quarters.

“Astrid! Maybe I should take the lead. Your lightsaber won’t be much use in this tight space.”, he called.

“Oh yeah?”, Astrid asked.

She raised her double-saber in front of her, twisted the handle…… and it came apart, leaving her with a lightsaber in each hand. Winking at the astounded Hiccup, she jumped into a group of super battle droids with her weapons, spinning one in each hand like blue buzzsaws. Within seconds, all the supers were pieces at her feet and she was fitting the two sabers back together. Hiccup gave it an appreciative glance.

“That’s an interesting feature.”, he said.

“Thanks. It’s a new one.”, Astrid replied.

“Did Heather’s hinged one give you the idea?”, Hiccup asked.

Heather also favoured a double-bladed lightsaber, one with white blades and an ingenious mechanism that allowed it to be folded and clipped to her utility belt or slung on her back.

“Actually yes. What about yours?”, she asked.

Hiccup’s lightsaber was plated in shiny black metal, but the emitter was the most ornate and notable feature. It was shaped like the head of a dragon, a Night Fury specifically, with two green stones for the eyes and the open mouth being where the purple plasma blade would burst forth when ignited. It was a beautiful and elegant thing and even Master Windu, whose own saber was plated with an expensive electrum finish, was a bit jealous of it.

“Not much. I’ve added a new power cell which means it conducts energy more efficiently, though.”, Hiccup said.

“Efficient. But we should keep moving before more droids show up.”, Astrid said.

“Agreed. We should be near the turbolifts to the bridge, anyway.”, Hiccup said.

Sure enough, there were turbolifts round the next corner. Guarded by battle droids who lasted less than three seconds, but just as Hiccup pressed the button to summon the lift, they heard a familiar and very unwelcome sound.

“Destroyers!”, Astrid said, whirling round with her lightsaber at the ready.

Droidekas, also known as destroyer droids, were known as the bane of Jedi anywhere in the galaxy. Equipped with twin blaster cannons and personal deflector shields, they could devastate ranks of infantry and even make a Jedi back down. Right now they were rolling along the corridor to confront them. Hiccup began pressing the button rapidly.

“Come on, come on!”, he said.

“Hiccup!”, Astrid said warningly.

Just as four of the dreaded droidekas rolled around the corner, there was a ding and the turbolift doors opened.  
“Inside!”, Astrid shouted.

Both of them leapt backwards into the lift and Hiccup closed the doors with the Force just as the droidekas opened fire. Both Jedi sighed with relief.

“Glad we’re out of there.”, Hiccup said.

There was the sound of priming levers on blasters behind them. The lift was occupied by a squad of battle droids.

“Drop your weapons, Jedi. You’re locked in here with us and there’s no escape.”, one said.

Hiccup and Astrid exchanged looks.

“Actually, you’re locked in here with us and there’s no escape.”, Hiccup said.

The battle droids glanced at their leader nervously.

“Uhh, we surrender?”, it said hopefully.

Screams and lightsabers whooshing and slicing were all that followed. TX-139 fought off a shudder of fear as he listened and saw the Jedi were almost to the bridge. He hailed the leader of the droid squads protecting the bridge doors.

“B1-799, report.”, he said.

“B1-799 reporting, sir. No sign of the Jedi.”, said the commander.  
“They are in one of the turbolifts, ascending to your location. Do not let them get through.”, TX-139 ordered.

“Roger, roger.”, the droid said.

Signing off, he turned to the twenty or so droids that had assembled in the long corridor to the bridge doors.

“All units, be advised. The Jedi are heading our way.”, he said.

“When will they get here?”, asked a battle droid.

As if in response, the turbolift doors opened with a hiss to reveal Hiccup and Astrid standing ankle-deep in droid parts. Hiccup ignited his lightsaber at once.

“Astrid, get behind me!”, he shouted.

His preferred Form III, Soresu, was ideally suited to this as it was an almost wholly defensive form and created when blasters became more widespread in the galaxy. Astrid was skilled with Form V, Djem So, and also elements of Forms IV and VI, Ataru and Niman, but preferred a direct and aggressive approach. The droids raised their weapons.

“Blast them!”, cried one.

They opened fire, red laser bolts lancing towards Hiccup. He deflected them and two droids went down, but there were too many for him.

“I can’t…..”, he began.

Astrid leapt over him, ignited her double-bladed lightsaber and hurled it down the length of the corridor like a boomerang. The twin blue blades spun, cutting through droids and slicing white-hot gouges into the walls, before being called back to Astrid’s hand. She shut off the blades and admired her handiwork. All the droids remained standing, then as one their upper halves collapsed to the floor whilst their lower halves remained standing for a few seconds, then did the same. Hiccup made an indistinct noise in his throat.

“Show-off.”, he said.

“What was that?”, Astrid said.

“Nothing. Let’s get to the bridge.”, Hiccup said.

With literally nothing in their way, it was an easy trip to the doors that led to the bridge. A bisected commander droid lying nearest them suddenly started beeping.

“B1-799, report. What is going on out there? I repeat, what is going on?”, asked the droning voice of a tactical droid.

“You want to open it, or shall I?”, Astrid asked.

“Thought you’d never ask.”, Hiccup replied.

He raised his hand and called upon the Force, making the heavy doors slide open with a groan. Inside, a brown-painted tactical droid turned round and blanched at the sight of them. 

“Jedi! Blast them!”, it shouted.

The few battle droids present on the bridge obligingly opened fire, whilst the unarmed pilot droids dived for cover. Hiccup and Astrid snapped into combat stances and deflected the blasterfire whilst the tactical droid ducked behind the command chair, pressing a button on it’s right arm. The bridge’s motley security was dispatched in short order and the tactical droid found itself held at the point of both lightsabers.

“Yield. You are beaten.”, Astrid said.

To her surprise, the tactical droid laughed.

“Incorrect. I have just ordered droidekas to converge on the bridge. I calculate your odds of defeating them at approximately 340 to 1.”, it said gloatingly.

And indeed they heard the familiar sound of droidekas rolling to meet them. 

“Well then, we’ll have to work fast. Toothless, go ahead and plug in. Start slicing the ship’s mainframe so we can gain control.”, Hiccup said.

Toothless beeped affirmatively, plugged into the nearest console and began working. The tactical droid let out another mechanical chuckle.

“I calculate your droid’s rate of success at that at 574 to 1.”, it said smugly.

“You talk too much. Say one more thing about calculations and I swear I will dismantle you bolt by bolt.”, Astrid snarled at it.

The droid looked like it wanted to say something, then thought better of it. Hiccup used the Force to close the bridge doors once again.

“Won’t hold them forever, but hopefully long enough for Toothless to get us control of this thing.”, he said.

“Better not take too long. We just lost another Consular-class.”, Astrid said, looking out at the battle.

Heavy impacts that made the doors shudder told them the droidekas had arrived and were trying to blast their way inside. Both Hiccup and Astrid ignited their lightsabers and faced the doors, leaving the tactical droid alone. It spotted a fallen droid blaster and began to inch it's way sneakily towards it. Just then, the doors exploded inwards and a quartet of droidekas burst into the bridge, shields active and blaster cannons blasting away. The tactical droid, which had managed to get the blaster, jumped up just in time to be immediately perforated by several stray blasts, knocking it backwards in a sparking, ruined heap. Hiccup and Astrid fought hard, deflecting as many bolts as they could back into the droideka’s shields. But there were too many to deflect and one got through their screen, striking Astrid in the arm and knocking her down.

“Argh!”, she screamed, clutching her injured arm.

“Astrid!”, Hiccup shouted in horror.

Now alone, he kept up the defence whilst reaching once more into the Force, calling it into him and then expending it outwards in a powerful push. The droideka’s shield, whilst effective against blasters and lightsabers, offered no defence against the Force and all of them were launched back down the long corridor, smashing and sparking into bits. Hiccup, panting somewhat from the exertion, hurried to examine Astrid.

“Astrid? Astrid, are you all right?”, he inquired anxiously.

“I’m fine. It was only a flesh wound.”, she said, wincing in spite of herself.

“Let me see.”, Hiccup insisted.

“I said I’m fine. It’s sweet that you care, though.”, Astrid said.

Their eyes met and, for a brief second, something deeper flickered in their depths before they seemed to come back to themselves. Toothless beeped to get their attention and both started.

“What is it, bud? Are we in?”, Hiccup asked.

Toothless beeped affirmatively.

“Great. Let’s see what this hunk of junk can do, then.”, Astrid said.

“I’ll pilot it, you man the guns.”, Hiccup said.

Hiccup got into the command chair and punched a few buttons to make the cruiser change course. Astrid, having bound her arm with a strip of cloth from her robe, went over to a gunnery console and started fiddling with it.

“I’ll get us into an optimum position. Once that’s done, target the nearest Separatist cruiser and fire.”, Hiccup said.

“Got it.”, Astrid said.

With an aggressive humming of engines, the big dreadnought began to manoeuvre itself into a new position.

==================================================================


	4. Chapter IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With their new ship, the Dragon Riders rout the Separatist forces and claim Nakadia for the Republic.

On the bridge of the Republic flagship Dauntless, Fishlegs and the commanding officers were getting increasingly nervous. The remnants of the Separatist fleet were pressing them pretty hard and, in spite of the efforts by Snotlout and the twins, inflicting heavy damage. All attempts to contact either Hiccup or Astrid had failed and the more cynical were believing them dead. Fishlegs refused to entertain that thought, mostly because if they were died he would surely have felt it, but he was still nervous as to why they hadn’t heard from them. He was just about to try again when a clone naval officer hailed him.

“Sir! The Separatist flagship is changing course!”, he shouted.

“Is it trying to escape?”, Fishlegs asked

“No, sir. I’m not sure what it’s doing.”, the officer replied.

Fishlegs was at the viewport in moments. Sure enough, the Providence-class dreadnought was changing it’s position, though to what end he could not see. Then, to his surprise, the dreadnought began firing…… not on them, but on the nearest Banking Clan frigate. A flurry of confused chatter emanated from both sides on all wavelengths as the frigate’s shields failed and it began to succumb to the barrage. Then it hit him.

“Hiccup! And Astrid! This has to be them!”, he exclaimed.

“What? How?”, asked another officer.

“They must have commandeered that cruiser! Quick, get me Captain Rumsford.”, Fishlegs ordered.

“Yes, sir.”, the officer said

A hologram of a middle-aged man with an impressive beard appeared in front of him.

“What is it, Commander?”, he asked.

“Captain, order our ships to stop firing on the Separatist command ship.”, Fishlegs said.

“What? Why?”, asked the captain.

“Commanders Haddock and Hofferson are on board and have commandeered it.”, Fishlegs said.

“How can you be sure of this?”, asked Rumsford doubtfully.

“The dreadnought is shooting at it’s own fleet now, or have you failed to see that?”, Fishlegs replied.

“Well, no. I….”, the captain began.

“Then relay my orders and press the attack on the remaining enemy ships.”, Fishlegs said.

“Yes, sir.”, said the captain.

Fishlegs caught a resentful note in the captain’s tone as he said this but dismissed it. The orders were quickly relayed and the Republic stopped firing on the dreadnought, which had obliterated the frigate and was starting on another. This left only three, and the remaining two were showing signs of trying to flee. 

“Commander, we’re receiving a transmission from the command ship.”, the officer said.

“Put it through.”, Fishlegs commanded.

A hologram of Hiccup, seated in a command chair, popped into existence.

“Fishlegs. Thanks for not shooting at us.”, he said.

“Hiccup! Thank the Force you’re alive! I was getting worried.”, Fishlegs said.

“Good to hear.”, Hiccup said.

“And Astrid?”, Fishlegs asked.

“Currently manning the guns of this pretty powerful ship.”, Hiccup said.

“Appreciated. We now have the advantage, and the remaining ships are trying to retreat.”, Fishlegs said.

“Might as well let them. The battle is ours.”, Hiccup said.

As he said this, the two remaining Banking Clan frigates turned about, away from the battle, and jumped away into hyperspace. The battle was over; the Republic had won.

==================================================================

Onboard the Exactor, which had been fully commandeered, clone troopers subdued the remaining droids and ensured the ones in storage remained deactivated. The cluster of OOM pilot droids had been spared at Hiccup’s request, as he was interested in reprogramming them, whilst the tactical droid had been claimed for a lobotomy to see if it’s memory banks could yield any useful information. A Republic Nu-class attack shuttle landed in the main hangar, coming from the surface, and opened it's boarding ramp. Down it came a young woman in chromium armour over grey Jedi robes and with a lightsaber strapped to her back: Heather. With her was a delegation of Nakadian natives, tall and elegant with blue skin and large black eyes that seemed both innocent and intelligent at the same time. They had come to personally thank the Republic commanders for liberating their world. Astrid, who had been looking over her starfighter, saw her and ran to meet her fellow Jedi.

“Heather! You made it!”, she exclaimed.

The two girls hugged in a friendly manner.

“Of course I made it. You expected otherwise?”, Heather asked inquisitively.

“Well, we did hear the ground battle turned a bit rough.”, Astrid replied.

“Your lack of faith disturbs me.”, Heather said jokingly.

“Oh shut up. You know I worry.”, Astrid said.

“Looks like I had it easy. What happened to your arm?”, Heather asked.

Astrid’s right arm had been tended to by clone medics, who’d bandaged it and placed a bacta patch on it with a warning not to exert herself too much. 

“Oh. Destroyer droids. I hate those things.”, Astrid said.

“Me too. Still, this won’t keep you down for long.”, Heather said.

“Hiccup wanted to put me on medbay time for a week.”, Astrid said.

“And what did you say to that?”, Heather asked with a smirk.

“That I’d put him in a bacta tank first.”, Astrid cheerily replied.

“Atta-girl.”, Heather said.

The Nakadian leader cleared her throat pointedly.

“Oh, sorry. Astrid, this is Song, Councillor of Nakadia.”, Heather said.

Councillor Song was quite tall and elegant and wore a set of beautiful silver robes with billowing sleeves. She bowed deeply to Astrid.

“A thousand thanks, Master Jedi. On behalf of all Nakadia.”, she said.

“It’s no trouble, Councillor. Saving worlds and helping people is what we do.”, Astrid said.

“Of course. But we are all in your debt.”, said Chancellor Song.

“It was mostly thanks to Hiccup’s brilliance that we won.”, Astrid said humbly.

“Might we meet this Hiccup, then?”, inquired Councillor Song.

“Of course. Follow me.”, replied Astrid.

She led them through the ship, which was full of clone troopers who were doing any of a hundred things. She noted the Nakadians glowering at any droids with undisguised dislike, but couldn’t entirely blame them. The Separatists had invaded their peaceful and bountiful world and the droids weren’t exactly kind overlords. She found Hiccup still on the bridge, conversing with several holograms of high-ranking Republic personnel; Master Kenobi, Master Windu, Master Yoda and Chancellor Palpatine himself. All of them turned to greet them as they came in.

“Masters, Supreme Chancellor, this is Councillor Song of Nakadia.”, Astrid said.

“Ah. Wonderful to meet you.”, Palpatine said.

“Thank you, Chancellor Palpatine. I was coming to thank the young Hiccup for his actions in liberating our world.”, Song replied.

“Yes, we were just discussing that. Very unorthodox tactics.”, Master Windu said.

He didn’t sound pleased about it, but then again Master Windu was well-known for his disdain for Jedi who did not entirely conform to tradition and rules.

“Though one can hardly argue with the results. A planet liberated with minimal casualties and a captured Separatist dreadnought.”, Master Kenobi pointed out.

“Indeed, Master Kenobi. These young Jedi have proven most effective at their duties.”, Palpatine said.

“In times of war and strife, unity and cohesion are key to success. Yes.”, Master Yoda said.

“Thank you, Master Yoda.”, Hiccup said.

Councillor Song, who had been whispering with her aides, now stepped forwards.

“Chancellor Palpatine, if I may speak.”, she asked.

“Yes?”, he said.

“After careful consultation, and in light of your actions in liberating our world, we would like to ask about joining your Republic.”, she said.

“But of course. Wonderful news indeed. I shall bring it personally before the Senate at our next meeting, if you could send a suitable delegation.”, Palpatine said.

“Thank you, Chancellor Palpatine. Thank you all.”, said Councillor Song.

She bowed deeply, then left the bridge. Hiccup smiled at Astrid and Heather before turning back to the officials.

“Have you managed to get anything useful from the ship’s databanks?”, asked Master Windu.

“Not much, but what we do have looks promising. This ship was once part of the Trade Federation fleet, and owned by Nute Gunray himself.”, Hiccup said.

There was a ripple of excitement throughout the group; Nute Gunray was the Viceroy of the Trade Federation and a high-ranking member of the Separatist Council. Greedy, treacherous, venal and generally morally bankrupt scum, he’d escaped Republic custody after being captured on Rodia in the first year of the war and they were always eager to get him back. This ship having once been his might hold vital clues to his potential whereabouts.

“Padawan Ingerman is slicing the databanks right now. Most of it’s encrypted, but we’ve managed to decode some potential hiding places of his.”, Hiccup reported.

“Good. Send us a complete list when you’ve cracked it.”, Master Windu said.

“There’s also some bad news mixed in, however.”, Hiccup said.

“Oh?”, asked Master Kenobi.

“Our flagship, the Dauntless, took severe damage in the battle. She’ll have to go to a repair yard for at least a month.”, Hiccup said.

“Ah. Yes, that is a problem.”, said Master Kenobi.

“Weakened, your fleet is, with this loss.”, Master Yoda remarked.

“Yes, Master. Which is why I was wondering if we could take command of this vessel in the interim.”, Hiccup said.

Astrid and Heather goggled at him; this was new, and very daring. Master Windu’s scowl became even more pronounced.

“You presume too much, Padawan Haddock. Exactly why should we give you a cruiser that could prove valuable intelligence and isn’t even a Republic ship?”, he asked.

“If I may, Master Windu. Based on my readings, this ship would take less time to repair and rearm than the Dauntless, so we wouldn’t be down a vital craft for long.”, Hiccup said.

Master Windu looked doubtful, but Master Kenobi seemed amenable.

“I’ve also begun reprogramming the battle droid pilots and crew to serve us, so we’d also solve our crew problems.”, Hiccup pointed out.

“Well, when you put it like that….”, Master Kenobi said.

“I still don’t think so.”, Master Windu said.

“The boy has just provided two, well-rounded reasons.”, Master Kenobi pointed out.

Master Windu’s forehead creased up.

“Very well. Bring the ship to the repair yards at Fondor. They will reconfigure it for Republic service.”, he said.

“Of course, Master. And thank you.”, Hiccup said.

With that, the holograms faded away and Hiccup turned back to the girls. He was practically jumping with joy, in contrast to the reserved demeanour he’d had for the officials. Astrid thought the word ‘adorkable’ was appropriate.

“Did you hear that? We get to keep this ship!”, he said in delight.

“Congratulations. Personally I think it’s a junk heap.”, Astrid said.

“Spoilsport.”, Hiccup muttered.

“What was that”, Astrid asked.

“Nothing!”, Hiccup said hastily.

The news was quickly relayed to the other Riders, all of whom were much more enthusiastic than Astrid about their new ship. The twins had already been escorted out of the gunnery twice after trying to get to the big cannons, Snotlout had found a hidden cache of jewelery (and bagged the fancy cabin it had been in) and Fishlegs was ecstatic to find a mediation chamber and library aboard; clearly, this ship had once had Dooku as a passenger. Even Astrid warmed up to it once she found it had a sparring room for her and Heather to practice their staff techniques.

“I guess you were right. Maybe this ship isn’t so bad after all.”, she admitted.

“Sorry, could you repeat that? Didn’t quite catch it the first time.”, Hiccup said teasingly.

“Don’t push your luck.”, Astrid said warningly.

“OK.”, Hiccup said.

The ship was taken to Fondor and repaired in due course, along with the addition of new weapons, on-board systems and paintjob that replaced the blue and grey Separatist colours with the red of the Galactic Republic Navy. The Dragon Riders were summarily impressed with their new flagship, particularly the honour guard of reprogrammed battle droids that assembled to meet them in the main hangar. The clones under their command had grumbled a bit, saying the only good clanker was a scrapped one, but had grudgingly conceded to work alongside them since they would need them to keep the ship properly manned. 

“This is great, Hiccup!”, Fishlegs squealed as he looked around the hangar of their new vessel.

“Isn’t it?”, Hiccup said, eyes gleaming.

“Unbelievable. All she needs now is a name.”, Heather said.

She clapped her hands over her mouth as she realised she’d just said that in front of Snotlout and the twins.

“Snotlout’s Hammer!”, Snotlout said.

“Loki’s Pride!”, Ruffnut said.

“Inner Nut!”, Tuffnut cried.

“No.”, Hiccup said.

“How about-”, Snotlout began.

“NO!”, everyone replied.

“But…. shut up, everybody.”, Snotlout said resentfully.

Hiccup fought the urge to facepalm.

“As I was about to say, Astrid and I have already come up with two. Just need to vote.”, he said.

“Well, let’s hear them then.”, Heather said.

“Option 1 is Rider’s Refuge, Option 2 is Dragon’s Nest.”, Astrid said.

“I vote for Option 2.”, Fishlegs said at once.

“So do I.”, Heather said.

“2 is good.”, the twins said.

“I still think it should be Snotlout’s Hammer.”, Snotlout said.

“Majority in favour of Option 2. Very well; Dragon’s Nest it is.”, Hiccup said.

That settled, they headed to the bridge to officially launch their new cruiser. With the reprogrammed pilot droids and clone officers manning the consoles and Hiccup in the command chair, the order was given. With a whining of repulsorlifts, the mighty dreadnought lifted off from the station that had held it and took off for space. There were cheers all over the bridge and a few clones and droids even hugged. Hiccup, in a moment of cheer, grabbed Astrid and swung her round. For a brief and wild moment, he was actually tempted to kiss her. Then he remembered the Jedi Code, and various other things, and released her very quickly. If he’d chanced to look, he’d have seen her cheeks turn briefly scarlet. But he did not look, and the moment passed. The newly christened Dragon’s Nest had now moved away from the planet and into the optimum position for hyperspace. All eyes turned to Hiccup.

“Care to do the honours, Commander?”, asked a clone officer.

“It would be my pleasure, captain.”, Hiccup replied.

He stepped forward, pushed the button and there was a loud thrumming as the hyperdrive powered up. The stars became long white lines as the cruiser jumped to hyperspace, onwards to rejoin the rest of the fleet it would lead into battle and into more adventures.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there we have it. Might do a sequel to this featuring the Dragon Riders caught up in Order 66, but always in motion, the future is. Will have to wait and see.
> 
> Happy Star Wars Day, and may the Force be with you all.


End file.
